United Technologies Sees M&A Opportunities

United Technologies said it will be aggressive in 2009 with mergers and acquisitions only two days after announcing 11,600 layoffs and a cut to its full-year guidance.

United Technologies ( UTX) said it will be on the hunt for mergers and acquisitions later this year, merely two days after announcing it had revised guidance lower for the year and that it would slash 11,600 jobs.

The Hartford, Conn.- based conglomerate said that the reason it reduced its share repurchase program to $1 billion from $2 billion, announced on Tuesday, was "to keep our powder dry" for potential tie-ups on 2009.

"We're going to be aggressive this year with mergers and acquisitions," CFO Greg Hayes said during an analyst meeting in New York. "We see good value out here, good synergy and a lot of targets."

On Tuesday, United Technologies said it will cut 11,600 workers in response to global economic conditions. United Tech added that additional workforce reductions may occur later in the year based on market driven production volume changes.

Alongside the Tuesday announcement of job cuts, United Tech trimmed its guidance to a range of $4 to $4.50 a share, compared with its previous guidance range of $4.65 to $5.15 a share, with 30 cents to 40 cents of one-time restructuring costs anticipated. On average, analysts expect United Tech to post full-year earnings of $4.60 a share, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company said that savings from its restructuring efforts, dating back to last year, will result in total cost reductions exceeding $1 billion in 2009. Employment reductions are expected to total approximately 18,000 or slightly more than 8% over the two years, he said.